


tell me this isn't real

by Tea_For_One_Please



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys Kissing, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mermaid!Carlos, One Shot, Young Love, mermaid au, why did I write this lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26123221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: When on vacation with his friends, Seb rescues a young merman called Carlos, and discovers an entirely new world he knew nothing about.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	tell me this isn't real

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I will continue to write incredibly specific AUs because I want to read them and no one else writes them. I'm apologising for nothing.

Seb lets out a satisfied sigh as he rolls over onto his stomach, resting his chin on his forearms and letting the sun’s scorching rays warm his back. He has to admit, his friends suggested a road trip to California, he wasn’t entirely convinced about the idea. With his family’s farm, he rarely gets the chance to go on vacation, but as it turns out, a trip may be exactly what he’s been needing. And since he’s here for nearly a month, he may as well enjoy it.

“Seb!” He looks up to see Ashlyn waving at him from the shallows. She beckons him over. “Come surf with us!”

“I’m good!” he calls back with a smile, and she offers him a thumbs-up, before lying down on a board and paddling out into deeper water.

He closes his eyes again, frowning as he feels his back cool suddenly. He twists his head upwards, squinting at the clouds which have gathered over the bay. He tuts impatiently; what’s the point in being at the beach if he can’t even sunbathe?

He stands up with a grunt and wanders over to the rock pools instead, hoping to find some interesting stones or shells to take home with him. He steps carefully over the slippery rocks protruding from the shallow water, scouring the clear pools for anything that catches his eye.

“Bother,” he hears someone mutter. Seb looks around in mild surprise, having not realised anyone else was there. He hears a groan of effort, then a sharp intake of breath as if in pain.

“Is anyone there?” The only reply is the crash of the waves against the breaks and the elated shrieks of his friends splashing around in the distance. Seb’s eyes scan the rock pools, until he sees a head of dark hair and a pair of startled eyes duck behind one of the rocks.

Intrigued, Seb steps across the boulders in the direction he saw the face, curious to see who would be hiding from him. It takes him only a few moments to reach the place he saw the figure, but when he sees the individual, he nearly slips on the rock in astonishment.

Slumped in the clear, shallow water is the most peculiar boy Seb has ever seen. At least, half of him is a boy: from the waist down, he’s sporting a large fish’s tail. Seb takes it in, impressed by the realism of its scales – shining green where his hips would be, fading into the most beautiful turquoise, deepening to a darker shade of azure at the tail’s end.

Dragging his eyes from the tail, he takes in the rest of the boy. His face toes the line between angular and soft, his tousled hair falling across his forehead nearly to his eyes. Seb couldn’t look away from the boy’s eyes – they were deep and dark, and very clearly terrified.

It takes Seb a full twenty seconds to notice the large rock pinning the tail down.

He shakes himself out of his reverie and clears his throat. “Uh… hi.”

“Please don’t hurt me,” the boy almost whispers.

Seb looks shocked. “Of course I’m not going to hurt you!” he exclaims. “Are you okay?”

“I’m stuck,” the boy says a little awkwardly, and Seb almost laughs.

“The tail?” The boy nods. “Can’t you just… wriggle out?”

“Wriggle out?”

“Yeah, can’t you?”

“Wriggle out of what?” The boy looks utterly perplexed.

“The tail,” Seb says, as though it’s obvious. “It’s not real – right?”

“That would be ridiculous,” the boy says ruefully. “Look, can you help me or not?”

“Yes, of course,” he says hastily, crouching down in the shallow water to try and shift the large boulder which is apparently trapping him. It takes quite a lot of effort, but eventually, he manages to shove it off the boy’s tail, and collapses back into the cool water, having worked up quite a sweat. He wipes his brow and watches as the boy flicks his tail to adjust his half-sitting position.

“Thank you,” he says sincerely. As he moves, his tail brushes lightly against Seb’s leg.

“You’re welcome,” he replies automatically, before adding, “It’s real, isn’t it?” He hesitates, then nods.

“Yeah, it’s real. I’m a merman. Well, merboy, I guess, since I’m only fifteen.” He folds his arms across his chest defensively, but Seb just nods slowly.

“Huh.”

“You don’t think that’s weird?”

“Well, yeah, obviously,” Seb admits. “But, like, what am I going to do, deny what’s in front of me?”

“That’s… surprisingly rational,” the boy says, clearly taken aback. “I mean, I’ve not actually met a human before, but Mother always told me to stay out of sight in case I’m attacked.”

“I’m not going to attack you,” Seb says, but the smile on the merboy’s face tells him he already knew this.

“I’m Carlos, by the way,” he says.

“I’m Sebastian, but everyone calls me Seb.”

“Do you live here?”

“No, I’m on vacation,” Seb says, lifting himself up onto a rock closer to Carlos.

Carlos wrinkles his nose in confusion. “You’re on a rock.”

Seb laughs and shakes his head. “No, I mean…” He pauses; he’s never had to define a vacation to anyone before. “I live somewhere else, but I came here to enjoy myself away from home for a while. We have three months in the summer where we don’t have to go to school, you see.”

Carlos’ eyes light up. “I know what school is!”

“Do you have school?” Seb asks, suddenly incredibly curious.

“Not really,” Carlos says dolefully. “I’d like to go, though. Not that the other merpeople would like that – I’d be even more of an outcast if they knew we’d had this conversation.”

“On that subject,” Seb says, frowning suddenly, “how _are_ we having this conversation? How do you know English?”

“I often come to the shore to listen to the tourists,” Carlos explains. “That’s how I got stuck, I came to watch you. I make sure that only the children see me, because the parents never believe them.”

“You came to watch me?” Seb repeats, and the scales on Carlos’ tail go distinctly darker. If Seb didn’t know better, he’d say he was blushing.

“I just – I only – I meant,” Carlos stutters, apparently aware of the implications of his words. “I’ve seen you before,” he finishes, a little lamely. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Seb says with a laugh. “By the way, I don’t think I said – I’m fifteen too.”

Carlos brightens. “That’s…” he tails off and frowns, before muttering something in a language Seb doesn’t understand. “How would you say… something that’s true but odd or surprising? I only know it in Mermish.”

“A coincidence?” Seb suggests, and Carlos shrugs.

“Maybe. Does that make sense in your language?” Seb nods, and Carlos brightens again. “A coincidence,” he repeats slowly.

Seb, still barely able to believe that this conversation is even happening, asks, “Why do you come up to watch the humans – I mean, us?”

“I get bored,” Carlos admits. “The other merpeople… well, let’s just say I’m not too popular.”

“Why?” Seb asks, unsure why anyone who’d met Carlos wouldn’t like him.

Suddenly, though, the boy’s earnest expression turns frosty. With a flick of his tail, he flings saltwater up into Seb’s face, using the momentary distraction to slip under the water and propel himself hurriedly away.

“Wait!” Seb calls desperately, realising he must have touched a nerve. “I’m sorry, come back!”

“Who are you talking to?” says a voice from behind him. Ashlyn is standing a little way off, fixing him with a bemused gaze and untangling a stray piece of seaweed from her hair.

“Oh, I skimmed a pebble wrong,” Seb says, inventing wildly.

“So you were apologising to a rock?” she asks incredulously.

 _Guess I’m sticking with this story_ , Seb thinks, and nods firmly. “Yep.”

“Well, fair enough, my guy,” she says with a shrug. “We’re taking a break to go find some ice cream. Want to come?” Seb spares a brief glance back at the sea, but agrees and follows Ashlyn back to their beach blankets.

 _After all,_ he thinks, _I can hardly refuse ice cream to wait for a merboy I’ve offended. Who would possibly believe that?_

By the time Seb and the others return to the beach, the sun’s gradually sinking over the ocean, casting a radiant golden light across the surf and the sand. Ashlyn, EJ, Nini and Big Red return to the water for a swim, but Seb, still a little hopeful, returns to the area where he met Carlos. The tide’s risen a bit, but he can still explore the rock pools. After ten minutes, though, there’s been so sign of Carlos anywhere.

Disappointed, Seb is turning to head back to find his friends when something glittery catches his eye. His heart catches in his chest when he sees a dark blue tail disappear beneath the water’s surface about thirty yards away, and he wades out into the water, pulling diving glasses out of the pocket of his board shorts.

Jamming them determinedly on his face, he dives below the surface, silencing the noise of the beach and scanning around for any sign of Carlos. Seb sees his tail again, a little way ahead, and breaks into a crawl. He’s a competent swimmer, but he’s swimming against the current, and chasing a being who’s part-fish, so he quickly realises he doesn’t stand much of a chance, and returns to the surface for air. As he breathes again, he curses the strong waves, as well as his own big mouth for upsetting Carlos earlier.

“You put up quite a fight,” says a familiar voice. Seb quickly wipes his dripping bangs off his forehead and turns to see Carlos, resting on a partially-submerged rock, his tail still mostly underwater.

“I didn’t think you’d come back,” Seb says, doing his best to mask his delight as he wades to the rock and sits down.

“I’m sorry for splashing you before,” Carlos says. “You hit a sore topic, but you couldn’t have known.”

“I’m sorry all the same,” Seb offers, but Carlos shrugs and smiles at him. “Are they your friends?” he asks, lifting an arm out of the water and pointing.

Seb nods. “Yeah, I came here with them.”

“Why aren’t you with them now?”

“I was looking for you.”

“Why?” Carlos asks, sounding genuinely curious.

“Because I like you, Carlos,” Seb says. Then, realising this sounds a little blunt, he adds, “I wanted to tell you I was sorry for offending you, and that I hope you’re still my friend.”

Carlos looks taken aback by all of these statements. “Well… thanks,” he says, smiling a little awkwardly. “It’s been a long time since someone wanted to be my friend. But you have friends, don’t you?” he added, as though keen to change the subject. “I’ve seen you with them.”

“Yeah, they’re my friends from school,” he says, pointing them out to Carlos. “We do theatre together.” Noticing Carlos’ puzzled expression, he explained, “Theatre is when humans wear different clothes and perform, pretending to be different people to tell a story.”

“We tell stories too,” Carlos says, clearly pleased that they have something else in common. “But we don’t wear clothes to do it. Why do you do that?”

“Well… because it makes it easier for the audience to tell the characters apart, I suppose,” Seb says after a moment’s thought. “Also, it’s fun to dress up and become someone else for a few hours.”

Seb has to stifle a laugh at Carlos’ fascinated expression, as though this is the most interesting thing he’s ever heard.

“Will your friends notice that you’re not with them?” he asks.

“Doubt it,” Seb says with a chuckle. “I have a tendency to blend into the background.” Carlos hums in understanding, then rolls off the rock and into the water. For a moment, Seb’s heart sinks, thinking he’s leaving again, but Carlos quickly resurfaces and hauls himself back up next to Seb..

“Sorry,” he says. “I can survive above the water fine, but I start to feel sick if I stay dry for too long.”

“Why is that?” Seb asks, interested.

Carlos shrugs. “I’ve never been particularly gifted in anatomy.”

“What are you good at, then?”

To his surprise, Carlos suddenly looks bashful, and he hesitates before speaking. “Singing.”

Seb’s eyes widen. “I love music,” he says excitedly. “Will you sing something for me?”

Carlos seems to consider it. “Alright,” he says finally, “but you’ll have to come into the water, or you won’t be able to hear it.”

Seb eagerly pulls on his diving glasses, and Carlos recoils in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

“Your face,” Carlos says, looking stricken. “What happened to it?”

Seb starts to laugh. He can’t help it; Carlos just looks so concerned. He pulls off the glasses, and Carlos’ face twists in confusion. “They’re diving glasses – they help me to see underwater without getting water in my eyes.”

This time, it’s Carlos’ turn to laugh. “You can’t see underwater?”

Seb shakes his head, also starting to laugh as it dawns on him for the first time what a fundamental evolutionary flaw this is. “Most humans can barely even open their eyes, let alone see.”

“Hopeless,” Carlos chuckles, and slides back into the ocean once more. Seb tugs the glasses back over his eyes again and follows him in, taking a deep breath just before he dives down.

Once his sight adjusts, his eyebrows lift in surprise: even with the diving glasses, he can’t see Carlos that well at all. With the sunlight rapidly fading, the merboy is extraordinarily well-camouflaged. His skin, considerably darker than Seb’s, allows him to blend into the rocks around them, and his aquamarine scales almost disappear against the blue light of the sea. Seb can just about make out his dark hair, waving around freely in the currents.

Seb only just stops himself from gasping in astonishment when Carlos starts to sing, though. It’s not in English, of course, but the song is slow and mournful, and almost eerie in the way the water twists the sound waves as they reach Seb’s ears. It is, without a doubt, the most beautiful music Seb’s ever heard, and his eyes begin to droop shut as he listens. He’s vaguely aware that his mouth is filling with water, and an alarm bell rings in his head. Suddenly wide awake, he propels himself upwards off the sand. As he resurfaces, he clutches at the nearest rock, gasping for air in deep, spluttering breaths.

Carlos’ head pops up next to him, and he places a hand on his shoulder, concerned.

“Seb! What’s wrong?”

Seb twitches his arm away, peeling the diving glasses off his face and tossing them back to the beach. “What was that song?”

“I’m not sure,” Carlos says, his dark eyes searching Seb’s anxiously. “Just one of our anthems, I think.”

“It was making me go to sleep,” Seb replies angrily. “Why did you do that?”

Carlos’ hand flies to his mouth in horror. “I’m sorry, I had no idea – ”

“Really?” Seb’s still breathing heavily, furious. “No wonder all the stories tell of sirens luring sailors into danger, I – ” He can’t even finish his sentence, so he shakes his head and starts paddling away.

“Seb, by the Goddess, I _swear_ I wasn’t,” Carlos insists, drawing alongside with a few easy flicks of his tail. “You have to believe me, I had no idea what that song was.”

“Then why did you sing it?” Seb demands, still trying to swim away from Carlos.

“It’s just a song my people sing!” Carlos sounds desperate. “I’ve never sung in front of a human before – how could I have known what it would do?”

Despite his outrage, Seb hesitates. He wants to believe Carlos, but he’s still cautious. “Really?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I’d never met a human before,” he says softly. “Remember, I know almost as little about you as you know about us.”

“That’s not strictly true,” Seb mutters. “You’ve at least _seen_ humans before.”

“Well, yes,” Carlos admits, “but come on – I didn’t even know you couldn’t see underwater!” Seb considers this, and looks at Carlos again. “I’m really sorry,” Carlos says, and Seb’s heart softens.

“Alright,” he says, his voice still a little gruff, but he smiles at Carlos to let him know he’s forgiven. “I’m sorry I got angry.” He looks up the beach, and sees his friends gathering round their towels, packing up their bags to head back to the hotel. “Looks like I have to go,” he says to Carlos, who nods and smiles, sort of sadly.

“Will I see you again?” he asks.

“Of course,” Seb says in surprise. “I’m here for a month, so I’m sure we’ll see plenty of each other.” Carlos’ face lights up, and Seb can’t help grinning too: he doesn’t mean to, but Carlos’ joy is infectious.

“Here,” he says, holding out a closed fist. “Take this, in case you forget me.”

“How could I forget you?” Seb asks with an incredulous laugh. “It’s not every day I meet a merman.”

“You’d be surprised what humans remember,” Carlos says mysteriously, and drops a small winkle shell into Seb’s hand. As Seb slips it into his pocket, Carlos glances over Seb’s shoulder, and his eyes widen. “Bye,” he says shortly, and dives below the surface, propelling himself quickly away. Seb turns to see Nini wandering towards him.

“Seb!” she shouts, waving to him. He swims until he can put his feet down, and it’s only then that he realises how tired he is. “Where have you been? We were getting worried.”

“Oh, just exploring the tidal pools,” he shrugs.

She raises a sceptical eyebrow. “All day?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, which is a relief, because he doesn’t have one. “We’re going back to the hotel for dinner.”

“Sounds good,” he says, glancing back out to sea, hoping for one final glimpse of a head of dark hair.

“What are you looking for?” she asks curiously, following his gaze.

“Oh, nothing,” he says, stooping down to retrieve his diving glasses from the sand. “Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”

* * *

The quiet of the ocean seems oppressive in comparison with the noisy beach, and Carlos shivers as the water becomes colder. He swims almost lazily through the shallows until he reaches the drop-off, before flicking his tail and accelerating rapidly into the depths, where he’ll be less exposed to predators. He shudders at the prospect of meeting an orca out in the open sea. He sighs as he thinks about his life beneath the waves. Frankly, he’s deeply unhappy: he’s tired of constantly cowering in the shadows; tired of so rarely having anyone to talk to.

Before too long, he reaches the main highway between the two underwater cities in this region. Here, he cruises along with little effort, the strong current pushing him through the water at speed. Carlos feels a twinge of sadness as the other merpeople around him move out of his way as he passed, not wanting to be near him.

The twinge worsens at the memory of Seb swimming away from him out of fear. He still doesn’t really understand what happened: he supposes that the song of a merman must have some kind of effect on humans, causing them to lower their inhibitions or something. A thought occurs to him which makes him shudder: he could have accidentally killed the only friend he’s had in years. If only there was someone he could tell…

He hits upon an idea, and impulsively twists his body towards the ocean floor, spreading his tail fins wide to slow himself down as he slips out of the highway current. Carlos smiles as he spots the ancient cave, glowing with an eerie light.

He calls out as he approaches. “Dj’Enn?” He swims in a little way, and the light flashes again. “Are you home?”

“I’m here, sweetie!” Carlos feels himself relax as he hears her voice, and as he draws nearer, he realises she’s humming softly to herself as she works.

Carlos likes visiting Dj’Enn, as she is the only mermaid whom he can genuinely consider a friend. She knew his parents, and has looked out for him ever since their untimely deaths six years ago. She’s a master potioneer, and whenever he visits, she’s always experimenting with different concoctions to cure illnesses among the merpeople. A volcanic vent opens into her cave, and she uses it for warmth, and for brewing her potions. She also likes to boast that she was the first mermaid to ever try boiling fish, although Carlos happens to know that this occurred entirely by accident.

“What brings you to my humble abode?” she asks in her funny way, eyeing him with her mischievous grin. She drops a shiny black pebble into her cauldron, making the steam glow with cerulean light.

“I met a human today,” he says casually, and she looks at him in alarm.

“Are you hurt?” She abandons her handiwork and swims straight over to him, examining him for injuries.

“Not by the human,” he replies pointedly. “I got trapped under a rock, and he helped me.”

“It helped you?” she repeated in surprise. “It asked you for something in return, I presume?”

“No,” he said, rapidly losing patience. “He was kind to me.” She let out a sceptical hum, and returned to her cauldron. “I told you it was worth learning their language, Dj’Enn. I learned a lot about him.”

“Did you tell him about us?” she asked sharply, and he lifted his hands incredulously.

“He knows merpeople exist now, if that’s what you mean. But I didn’t tell him how to find us or anything, even if he could. Did you know humans need to wear special coverings for their eyes to see underwater?”

“Of course I know that,” she says loftily. “Did you know humans catch our kind and put us in shows?”

“Did you know our songs can put them to sleep?” he shoots back, and she looks at him in mild surprise.

“Everyone knows that a siren’s song has an impact on them,” she says thoughtfully, “but that particular response is, admittedly, a new one on me.” Carlos smiles triumphantly.

“I’m going to see him again tomorrow,” he says, trying his best to sound casual, and she sighs.

“Why, Carlos?”

The question catches him unawares. He hasn’t really considered why. “Because… because it’s nice to have a friend my own age, for once.”

“A little hurtful, but I’ll overlook it.” She stirs her mixture thoughtfully. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“Really?” he asks in disbelief. “You’re against me having a friend?”

“There are plenty of merpeople your age, Carlos!”

“Yeah, and all of them think I killed my mom and dad!” he shouts, taking himself by surprise with his own outburst. She sighs and puts down her stirring rod.

“Come and sit down,” she says kindly, gesturing to the seat she’s sculpted into the far cave wall. He joins her reluctantly, and she ruffles his hair. “I know it’s been a rough few years,” she says, folding her tail up underneath her and facing him. “But people will forget about it eventually.”

“They won’t, though,” Carlos says with an air of desperation. “You didn’t see the highway today. They were actually switching lanes to avoid me. Merpeople I’ve never met before!” He rests his chin on his hand and looks moodily into the distance. “No one believes me.”

“The people who matter – they believe you,” she insists.

Carlos snorts. “Yeah, let’s count them, shall we? One – you. Two…” he looks around. “Oh, right, it’s just you.”

“So what do you want to do about it?”

“Leave,” he says immediately. “I could migrate south – I hear there are jobs in Baja.”

“No, you’d never make it past the jellyfish shoals,” she replies, shaking her head vigorously. “You’d be eaten alive.”

“Thank you for your confidence,” he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I don’t know, Dj’Enn, sometimes I think it would be easier just to join the humans.”

“That would require a very specific set of circumstances,” she says sharply, “and I refuse to be part of it.”

“Please,” he says, twisting his body around to face her. “Will you at least consider it?”

“Carlos, _no_.” Her voice is firm. “I told you, my potions are for healing, not for dangerous metamorphoses.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he says sulkily, rising from the seat. “Thanks for nothing.” He hears her sigh as he swims away, but he really doesn’t care. Nor does he care that he’s throwing away an opportunity to have a decent meal with her. All he wants right now is to be away from her.

In truth, he doesn’t really want to be anywhere. He briefly considers returning to the surface to look for Seb, but it’s been ages since they said goodbye, so it’s very unlikely that he’s still there. Suddenly hungry, Carlos decides to rejoin the highway, scooping up some uncommon shells and a hermit crab, hoping to be able to make a trade.

He doesn’t much like the city, if he’s honest. Set into a massive fault line in the ocean bedrock, the colossal cliff walls towering up on either side of Carlos, with smaller streets and alleys forming where the rock has cracked from the pressure of the earth underneath. It’s always pleasantly warm, due to the heat from the earth’s crust below, and Carlos allows himself a sigh of comfort as he feels the temperate water enveloping him, making his skin and scales tingle.

He meets a street trader before too long, offering skinned fish and octopus. Carlos offers her the hermit crab, and she laughs in his face, telling him it’s barely worth half a tail’s worth of fish.

“Please,” Carlos begs. “I haven’t eaten today, I’m starving.”

“So am I, pal,” she says coldly. “Get out of here.”

He tries again a few stalls down, but the answer is the same every time. Eventually, though, he meets an elderly mermaid, who offers him a small piece of tuna and an oyster in exchange for his hermit crab, which she decides to keep as a pet.

Relieved to have finally found something to eat, he shelters in a nook in one of the side streets, so that he can eat undisturbed. It’s warm and quiet, and no one seems to have noticed him; consequently, he decides that this is as good a place as any to spend the night, and curls up to sleep. As he drifts off, Carlos’ mind wanders to Seb, and he wonders what he’s doing, absently hoping his new friend is having a better night than he is.

* * *

When Seb wakes up the next morning, his first thought is that he’s just had the most bizarre dream – that he met a merman on the beach yesterday. He glances around the room, but the other guys are still asleep. Big Red’s snoring again, EJ’s tousled hair is still visible, and there’s a lump in the duvet which is presumably Ricky.

 _I probably wouldn’t tell them anyway_ , he thinks – he loves the guys, but if he told them that he dreamed that a handsome merman sang to him and nearly drowned him… well, they might think he’s starting to lose his nerve. As he slips out of the bed he’s sharing with Ricky (they could only afford two rooms between them), he has the most ridiculous thought.

_Was it a dream?_

_Of course it was_ , he thinks with a disbelieving tut. _There’s no such thing as mermaids._

He steps into their bathroom and pulls on his board shorts and a t-shirt, hoping for an early swim before breakfast. He grabs his cell phone, diving glasses and room key, and drops them into his pockets for safekeeping. However, he hears a _clink_ as his phone knocks against something already in the pocket. Frowning, he pulls out a winkle shell. After a moment of confused thought, he remembers – Carlos gave him this shell yesterday. Carlos, the merman. Carlos, who’s definitely real.

He pulls on his sneakers and slips quickly out of the room, before sprinting down the stairs, through the lobby, down the street and onto the beach, scanning the waves for any inkling of Carlos’ presence. He wanders along the sands for a little while, meandering around to avoid the breaking waves, until he sees someone waving to him from the tidal pools. He beams, and nestles his things in the shelter of a small burrow in the cliff face, before tugging off his t-shirt and jogging to the shallow water where Carlos is basking in the sun.

“You didn’t forget me, then,” Carlos says happily, and Seb has the grace to look a little sheepish.

“I almost did,” he admits. “I came very close to convincing myself that you were a dream, but then I found the shell in my pocket. It’s a good job you gave it to me.” Carlos rolls over to make room for Seb on the rock, and Seb obligingly lies down next to him.

“Where are your friends?”

“Oh, still asleep,” Seb says with a low chuckle. “They will be for a while, I expect.”

“But not you?”

Seb shakes his head. “I live on a farm, so I’m used to being awake early.”

“This is early?” Carlos says disbelievingly. “The sun’s been up for hours!”

“Lots of humans like to sleep late,” Seb says with an amused smile. “But we have the luxury of being able to block out the sun, I suppose.”

“Must be nice,” he replies drily. “That said, it does get pretty dark on the sea floor.”

“You live on the sea floor?” Seb’s eyes widen in wonder. “Like, all the way down?”

“Oh, not _right_ at the bottom,” Carlos says hastily. “We call that the unknown region, and no one lives there, as it’s filled with really weird fish. I live a bit further up, where it isn’t as deep.”

Seb’s not quite sure he understands, but nods anyway. “Do you have, like, towns and stuff?”

“Of course,” Carlos says. “Our cities are built into undersea cliffs, and there are highway currents which connect them.”

“That’s awesome,” Seb breathes, turning onto his side to look at Carlos in fascination. “Where do _you_ live?”

“Oh, here and there,” Carlos says vaguely, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m a wanderer, me.”

“What about your parents?” Seb asks, and Carlos looks away.

His voice is barely audible. “I don’t have any.” Seb feels his heart sink.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks tentatively, cautious about asking direct questions.

“There’s not much to tell,” Carlos shrugs. “There was an accident about six years ago. I was up here, watching the humans, but I stayed too long.” Seb says nothing as Carlos dips into the water for a drink, still listening with rapt attention. “It was dark when I was heading back, but I was younger then, and didn’t know the way. I got lost, and a pod of orca found me.” Seb gasps. “I think one of them must have knocked me out with its tail, because the next thing I remember is my mother telling me to swim away, while the orca passed between them.”

“God, that’s awful,” Seb murmurs, horrified.

“I never saw my mother again,” Carlos continues quietly. “When I returned to my village, I had blood all over me, and everyone assumed I’d killed them. Which I did, in a way.”

“You did not,” Seb says indignantly.

“But it was my fault,” he counters. “If I hadn’t been up here, none of it would have happened. But I’ve always been curious about humans,” he finishes. “I think I’ve always wanted to be one, really.”

“Is that possible?” Seb asks, intrigued.

Carlos raises an eyebrow. “Metamorphosis is possible to all species, if you know how. We’ve narrowed it down to a potion, and a demonstration of commitment to the species you wish to change into.”

“Demonstration of commitment?” Seb asks. “What does that mean?”

“No idea,” Carlos admits. “We know it’s possible, but I don’t think it’s ever actually been done.”

“Huh, cool. Anyway, you were saying?”

“Oh, I was basically finished,” Carlos shrugs. “I became a pariah overnight. No one believed my story, who knows why. Crime among merpeople is nearly unheard of, so we don’t have much of an organised justice system, which is why I never got in any trouble. But new merpeople moved into our home, and I had to leave.”

“Where do you live now?” Seb asks, fairly certain that he knows the answer.

“Like I told you,” he replies, “here and there.”

Seb’s heart hurts for him, and he rests a hand on one of Carlos’. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Carlos says, smiling gratefully at him. “Thanks for listening, Seb.”

* * *

Afterwards, they see each other at least once every day, although they quickly realise that Seb has to start spending a little more time with his other friends to prevent them from becoming suspicious. They also find themselves talking more and more honestly with each other. Seb admits that he often feels overlooked in his friendship group, and indeed his family, and that he feels like he has more talent than he gets credit for. For his part, Carlos talks about his desire to travel away from the bay and the city, and his dream to see the world beyond the shore.

More and more, Carlos feels his heart give a little flutter when he sees Seb wave and jog towards him, and has to force himself not to stare when Seb pulls off his t-shirt and joins him in the water. Although he can’t really imagine someone like Seb falling for a merman, just occasionally, he thinks he sees interest in Seb’s gaze, and hopes he too feels a shiver when their hands brush together.

It’s just little things that make him wonder: one day, for example, Carlos resurfaces from the water, having gone down to have a drink and a quick swim, leaving his soaking hair plastered across his forehead. As if unthinkingly, Seb absently reaches out and brushes his bangs out of his eyes, then blinks in surprise when he realises what he’s done.

They have a brief misunderstanding when Seb hugs him for the first time; Carlos has never been hugged in his life, as it is not a typical demonstration of affection for merpeople, and he thinks Seb is trying to playfight, so he reciprocates in kind, to Seb’s alarm. But Carlos can see he’s never embarrassed by their little social mishaps, in the same way that Carlos is never offended by them either.

It’s been about a week when Carlos broaches a question he’s been working himself up to asking. They’re lying on the rock where they met, enjoying the sun, chatting about little things, when he finally finds his nerve. “Seb, how much longer are you here for?”

“About two more weeks,” Seb says, and Carlos’ face falls. “Well, two and a half.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah,” Seb replies gently. “We got an incredibly good deal at the hotel, but none of us could afford more than a month.” Carlos nods, and they’re quiet again for a few moments.

“I’ll miss you,” Carlos says, and almost freezes solid as Seb leans his head against Carlos’ shoulder.

“You could come,” he says gently, and Carlos lets out a slightly bitter laugh.

“Sure, bring a big aquarium,” he says sarcastically.

Seb chuckles too. “What about your mermaid friend? Could she help?”

“I’ve asked her before, and she said no. I could try again, though,” he adds brightly. “We haven’t spoken in a little while, though. I don’t know if she’d see me.”

“Why not go now?” he suggests. “I need to go back to my friends anyway, or they’ll come looking for me.”

With a newfound resolve, Carlos gives Seb a hug goodbye, then slides into the water, propelling himself towards the depths of the Pacific once more. Ignoring the stares of the merpeople on the highway, he makes his way back to Dj’Enn’s cave, calling out to her as he swims slowly in.

“Dj’Enn? Are you here?”

“Come on in!” she calls, and he’s relieved that there’s no trace of hostility in her voice. She’s tinkering over her cauldron again, and she smiles only slightly stiffly when she sees him.

“Hey,” he says, a little awkwardly. “I’m sorry about last week.”

“It’s fine,” she says, waving a hand. “Don’t worry about it. Want to try this?”

“What is it?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Then I’ll pass,” he says. “I need to ask you to do something.”

“It had better have nothing to do with becoming a human,” she says sternly.

“It has everything to do with that,” he says, with what he hopes is a disarming smile.

She sighs and shakes her head. “I won’t do it, Carlos.”

“Please,” he says, swimming rapidly up to her and imploring her with his dark eyes. “I can’t stay here anymore, I’m _sick_ of it.”

“The answer is no!”

Anger stirs inside him. “Why not?” he shouts. “I know you could do this! Why won’t you help me?”

“Because I don’t want to lose you!” she snaps back, throwing her stirring rod down and swimming a few feet away. Silence falls for a moment. “Your parents were my best friends, Carlos, and when they died, I swore to myself that I would look out for their son. How am I honouring that promise if I let you go and live in the human world?”

“But I’m old enough to know what’s right for me,” he says, a lot more gently. “I don’t want to lose you either, Dj’Enn,” he adds truthfully, “but I’ve found a way out, and I may never get another chance at this.”

“What will you do?” she asks him desperately. “Do you have anywhere to go? How will you know anything about the human world?”

“I have a friend,” he says firmly. “He says he’ll look after me until I’m familiar with their world. Besides, this friend of mine – ” He pauses for a moment. “ – I think I might love him.”

She gazes at him for a long time, and he sees her eyes misting over slightly, but she sniffs and points a finger at him. “If I do this – _if_ – I need you to fully understand that this might not work.”

“I do,” he says hastily.

“And even if it does,” she continues, “this is _permanent_. No going back. You understand?”

“Completely.”

“You have to be sure.”

“Dj’Enn, I have never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“The potion will take fourteen days to brew,” she says thoughtfully, examining some etchings she’s made in the wall of her cave.

“That long?” Carlos asks, dread rising in his heart. “That’s cutting it close, don’t you think? What if he decides to leave early?”

“That’s the best I can do, Carlos,” she says apologetically. “Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it,” he says, a little apprehensively.

“Very well.” She lifts her cauldron off the volcanic vent and empties it into the water behind them, before replacing it and brushing off her hands briskly. “I’ll collect the ingredients tonight and start in the morning.”

“You’re the _best_ , Dj’Enn,” Carlos beams, swimming over to hug her.

“What are you doing?” she asks, alarmed, and Carlos laughs, having forgotten that merpeople don’t hug.

“Never mind,” he says. “Just… thank you.”

* * *

“So you did it?” Seb asks excitedly, unable to believe his ears. “You got the potion?”

“Well, not yet,” Carlos admits. “But my friend’s agreed to make it. She says it’ll take fourteen days, though.”

“Two weeks?” Seb repeats, dismayed. “Well, I’ve no plans to leave early, so that might just about be okay.”

“As long as I can prove my commitment in the time that’s left afterwards,” Carlos says, suddenly feeling a lot less confident in the plan. “But honestly, I don’t have a clue where to start.”

“We’ll think of something,” Seb says encouragingly. “How hard can it be?”

As it turns out, thinking of a way for Carlos to prove his commitment is a lot more difficult than they anticipated. The next morning, Seb opts out of a trip to an amusement park to spend the day with Carlos, trying to think of a way he can demonstrate his desire to be human.

“You might have already done enough,” Seb reasons at one point. “I mean, you’ve been watching them for ten years. That’s got to show commitment, right?”

“I’m not so sure,” Carlos says gloomily. “I think I have to do something _after_ taking the potion.”

“Back to the drawing board, then,” Seb says, rolling onto his back and pulling down his sunshades.

Over the next week, Seb comes to see Carlos for a little while every day, and they wrack their brains for ideas, but they can’t come up with anything concrete. Even when Carlos bursts out from the deep with the happy news that the potion is only a few days from completion, it’s difficult to celebrate, because they still don’t have a plan for what happens after Carlos takes it.

“This is hopeless,” Seb groans eventually, lying down on his front and watching Carlos splash around in the shallow water. He rests his chin on his hands dolefully, peering over the edge of the rock and feeling the waves splash against his elbows. Carlos pops his head up, his face six inches from Seb’s, and grins at him.

Seb feels his heart ache at the prospect of having to leave Carlos alone here in a week’s time, and on impulse, he leans forward and kisses him. He’s never kissed anyone before, and his insides flutter at the feeling of Carlos’ lips against his. He can’t help noticing that Carlos isn’t really reciprocating, and when he pulls away, his heart sinks at the bemused look on Carlos’ face.

“What was that?” Carlos asks curiously, and Seb’s chest floods with relief.

“I, uh, I kissed you,” he replies, still a little embarrassed.

“Why?”

“Because – well, that’s,” Seb stammers, feeling his cheeks flush, “that’s what humans do with people that they – that they like.”

“Like your friends?” Carlos asks.

“No, not really, I mean – people that they love,” Seb says, stuttering slightly on the final word.

“Oh,” Carlos says, smiling brightly. “Can we try it again?”

He looks so open and earnest that Seb can’t help laughing a little, but he nods, and Carlos closes the gap between them. Seb closes his eyes as he smells Carlos’ familiar scent, and tastes the seasalt on his lips.

“Would this count as commitment to the species?” Carlos asks, and Seb can’t help bursting into laughter at the matter-of-fact tone of his question. Maybe he’s onto something.

Three days later, Carlos emerges from the waves looking indescribably nervous, and clutching a large vial with a cork in the opening.

“Here it is,” he says, passing to Seb while he hauls himself up onto the rock.

“So,” Seb murmurs, unable to quite believe what he’s looking at, “this is it.” Carlos gazes silently at it for a moment, then Seb prompts, “Do you want to drink it now?”

“Yes. No. Gosh, I don’t know,” Carlos says, clasping his hands together anxiously. “I didn’t think it would be this hard when it came to it.”

“If this isn’t what you want, it’s not too late to change your mind,” Seb says gently, and Carlos looks at him as if he’s insane.

“Of course I want this, Seb, I just…” he trails off, and shakes his head determinedly. “Let’s do it.” He holds out a hand, and Seb pulls out the cork and passes him the vial. Carlos lifts it slightly, as if in a toast, then raises it to his lips and swallows it all in one go. He shudders as he finishes it, and tosses the vial back into the sea. “Disgusting,” he says with a grimace.

“Do you feel any different?” Seb asks hopefully, but Carlos shakes his head.

“Not yet,” Carlos says, wiping his lips on the back of his hand.

Seb leans forward tentatively, and Carlos eagerly closes the distance and presses his lips against Seb’s. They both instinctively look at Carlos’ tail when they pull away, but even though they weren’t entirely convinced it would work, they still both slump a little, disappointed, when they realise that it’s still very much a tail.

“Never mind,” Seb says encouragingly. “We’ll think of something else.” Unfortunately, though, they only have two more full days until Seb has to leave, which doesn’t leave them a lot of time to come up with new ideas. Carlos even stays at the beach for the whole night, but nothing seems to work.

On Seb’s last day, he wanders down to the tidal pools where they first met. Carlos is there, of course, but they find that they don’t really know what to say to each other.

“I’ll come back when I can,” Seb promises, but he senses that Carlos knows that he won’t really be able to – he’s told him enough about his life for Carlos to know that he doesn’t get to travel much.

“I had an idea,” Carlos says as the day drifts towards evening.

“Go on.”

“Come swimming with me,” Carlos says, brushing Seb’s hair off his forehead. “If this is to be the last time I see you, let me show you a bit of my world.”

“Carlos, there’s no way I could keep up with you!”

“You don’t need to,” he says eagerly. “If you wear those glasses things, you can sit on my back.”

Seb has to admit that the prospect is an appealing one, so he nods and grins. “Alright, let’s give it a try. I’m afraid I can only hold my breath for about a minute at most, though.”

Carlos smiles mischievously. “Pathetic,” he teases, and Seb flicks at his ear, making him giggle. With a dignified roll, he slides into the water. Seb drops down after him, positioning himself where Carlos’ back meets his tail, and pulling on his diving glasses. “Ready?” Carlos calls, and Seb replies to the affirmative, inhaling deeply as Carlos takes off, accelerating rapidly before diving below the waves.

Seb can’t believe how fast they’re going, and he marvels at Carlos’ agility: his movements on land might be a little slow and clumsy, but down here, it’s a very different story. He twists and turns, giving Seb different views of the clear sea, launching them into the air every so often at remarkable speeds, allowing Seb to take in a new breath, before diving back down into the deep again.

Eventually, he seems to become tired, and flicks his tail sharply in mid-air, launching Seb off with a shriek. He lands with a splash, and resurfaces to find Carlos breathless with laughter. He swims over to him, splashing him with seawater in retribution.

“We’re quite a long way out,” Carlos says once they’ve calmed down a little. “We should probably head back to shore.”

“I’ll swim for a bit,” Seb says, his overwhelming joy vanishing almost immediately when he realises that their time together has almost run out completely. “It’ll give you a bit of a rest.”

They’ve barely gone a hundred yards when Carlos’ expression suddenly changes to one of very severe alarm.

“What’s the matter?” Seb asks, slowing down and treading water for a moment.

Carlos dips his head below the surface, then seizes Seb’s hand. “Shut your mouth,” he advises, before propelling them back in the direction the beach as fast as he can go. Confused, Seb obeys, but he twists his head around to see what Carlos saw. He can’t see much in the fading light, but he can make out a massive, dark shape somewhere below them, accelerating towards them at a terrifying speed.

“Uh, Carlos?” Seb shouts. Carlos seems to do some very quick thinking, sliding his tail underneath Seb and hurling him as far as he can with every ounce of strength he has. Plunging below the water, Seb recovers, and spins around to see Carlos darting around the snapping jaws of a lone orca. His eyes widen in horror, his heart hammering in his chest as Carlos tries his best to fight it off, slapping at its eyes with his tail, and dealing punches to sensitive points on its body when he can.

Suddenly realising that he needs to breathe, Seb propels himself to the surface, swallows as much air as he can, before diving back under the water. Deep down, he knows he should escape, but he cares too much for Carlos to abandon him, so he starts swimming back towards the fight.

As he draws near, Carlos lands a solid blow to the orca’s blow-hole, and the creature seems to admit defeat. It turns around surprisingly sharply, but it smacks Carlos with its tail for good measure as it accelerates away. Carlos goes limp, and Seb speeds up, desperate to get to him. He’s not sure if Carlos can drown, but he’s certainly in no mood to find out. His lungs bursting, he hooks his arms under Carlos’ and kicks strongly towards the surface, gasping for breath as he feels the warm evening air rushing through his hair.

He treads water for a few moments, but Seb is dangerously aware that he’s tired, and that he still has to swim back to shore. He starts the trek towards land, pulling Carlos above the surface every few strokes, just in case. The journey seems to take hours, and every muscle in his body is screaming with fatigue. Finally, though, one of his kicks hits sand, and he’s able to stand up, although it hurts him to do so. As soon as they’re out of the water, he collapses on the sand, and absently reaches for Carlos’ wrist, feeling his pulse, and allowing relief to wash over him like a cool wave.

He sees his friends rush over, all looking thoroughly concerned.

“Where have you _been_? – ”

“– we’ve been looking all over – ”

“– no one’s seen you all day – ”

“– thought something terrible had happened – ”

“I’m okay,” Seb interrupts them, but suddenly Ricky notices Carlos, and points at him in disbelief.

“Who’s _that_?” he asks incredulously, and Seb braces himself. There’s no way they’ll believe him, but what choice does he have?

“This is Carlos,” he says slowly. “He…” He trails off as he looks down at him, his mouth dropping open in delighted astonishment.

Gone is the huge tail which once comprised the lower half of his body; replaced, instead, by a pair of lean, tanned legs, partially covered by a pair of board shorts in the exact colours and pattern of the scales which once adorned his tail.

“Well?” Kourtney prompts, and Seb realises he’s been silent for some time. “Who is he?”

“He’s my friend,” he says, his heart lifting for the first time in days. “I met him shortly after we arrived. I’ve been with him today, that’s why you couldn’t find me.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Nini asks.

“We got into a bit of trouble out in the water,” Seb says truthfully. “He saved me, but he passed out. I’m pretty sure he’ll be alright. He’s coming home with us, by the way.” A perplexed chorus of voices follows this peculiar announcement, and Seb smiles sheepishly. “It’s a long story; I’ll explain later.”

“Whatever,” Ashlyn says, looking highly amused. “If you’re sure he’ll be okay?”

Seb nods. “Why don’t you go find us a dinner table? We’ll catch up.”

Still looking rather confused, the rest of the group wanders back in the direction of the hotel, occasionally glancing back and offering suspicious looks, but Seb barely notices. He’s stroking Carlos’ face, smiling down at his still form. Once they group is safely out of view, Seb leans down and kisses him gently, brushing his matted hair out of his eyes and cradling his jaw in his hand.

“I love you,” Seb whispers, and as if he heard, Carlos’ eyes slowly blink open. “Hi,” Seb says, unable to hold back the grin that’s forcing its way out of him.

“Hey,” Carlos says, his voice slightly rough. He sits up and shivers, and Seb hastily wraps him in the towel and t-shirt that Nini left for him. “Whoa,” he says upon noticing his legs. He moves them one by one, staring at them in wonder. “I can’t believe it worked!”

“You saved me,” Seb says, as casually as he can. “I guess that was commitment enough.”

Suddenly, the reality of the situation hits him, and he wraps Carlos in a fierce hug, tackling him back onto the ground. They roll around on the sand, all tiredness gone: playfighting, laughing, kissing – overcome with the glee of being alive, being human, and being together. When they come to a stop, Seb finds himself staring up at Carlos, his dark eyes shining with happiness.

“I love you too, by the way,” he says softly. “Just in case you didn’t know,” he adds, as Seb leans up to kiss him.

Carlos climbs off him, allowing Seb to stand up and brush himself down and pull on his own shirt. Only when he sees Carlos still sitting on the sand, does he realise that Carlos doesn’t know how to walk, or even stand, so he stoops down and helps him to his feet, showing him how to put one foot in front of the other, and how to hold himself upright.

“This could be harder than we thought,” Carlos says with a chuckle.

“It doesn’t matter,” Seb says, throwing an arm around him as they reach the steps going up the cliff. “We’ll work it out together.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please do let me know - I genuinely write these because I want to read them, but I love to hear other people's thoughts as well! I'm on Tumblr at @tea-for-one-please 🙂


End file.
